Police were “unwilling” to pursue claims of criminal damage against travellers who set-up on three different playing fields in South Gloucestershire, according to an MP.

About 20 caravans parked up on three sites to the north of Bristol over the course of the past month, settling first on Forty Acre Field in Stoke Gifford on August 10, before moving just three miles down the road to Scotts Park Playing Fields in Patchway, and then later in the Tumps Nature Reserve, home to the Bristol BMX Track, also on Patchway.

Councillors at Stoke Gifford Parish Council and Patchway Town Council were invited to meet with Conservative MP, Jack Lopresti, on Friday to raise their concerns about what they perceived to be a lack of police action at tackling the problems allegedly caused by the travellers.

The Stoke Gifford councillors claimed people within the nomadic group – which reportedly vacated the Tumps site over the bank holiday weekend – were responsible for “criminal damage” while using the green sites as temporary bases and also acted “threateningly” towards locals.

On Forty Acre Field, situated in a woodland in Stoke Gifford, there were reports of a hedge being set on fire, while one person reported being bitten by a dog belonging to the travellers.

Mr Lopresti, MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, visited the Tumps site personally after the meeting to inspect the alleged damage for himself.

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An urgent meeting has now been secured between the Tory MP and the Avon and Somerset police leadership to raise the issues flagged by both the parish and town councils.

“If this was indeed the case, I would like to see the police do more to protect the public and their property.

“I will be raising these specific matters when meeting the Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mounstevens and the chief constable.”

Ms Mountstevens said the chief constable would “share the constabulary’s view on the matter” when the pair meet with the backbench MP.

The Police and Crime Commissioner said: “I take local people’s concerns very seriously, so it’s important I hear from the parish councils and residents of Filton and Bradley Stoke, either directly or through their local MP.

“The meeting will also give the chief constable the chance to share the constabulary’s view on the matter.”

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Mr Lopresti also confirmed that he plans to write to three secretaries of state – including the Home, Communities and Justice Secretaries – to push for a change in the law, so that it becomes easier to remove travellers from council land.

When travellers settle on private land, they can be served a legal notice by an enforcement agent which often ensures that the visitors have vacated the property within 24 hours.

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But local authorities must provide a clean-up and welfare service before seeking a court order to evict travellers off publicly-owned land, a process that can take a fortnight or longer – especially if they set-up camp just before a bank holiday, when the courts are closed.

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A spokesman for Mr Lopresti said he would be “investigating” why local authority land has different legal status in terms of evictions from private land, as part of his conversations with ministers.

The MP, a former Bristol city councillor, said: “From the secretaries of state, I would like clarification and greater guidance to local authorities and police authorities to ensure that laws are effectively upheld and justice does not depend on where you live.”

As part of escalating the issue, Mr Lopresti also vowed to contact South Gloucestershire Council about the lack of transit sites for those travellers passing through, often looking for seasonal work in sectors such as construction.

The council runs two authorised permanent traveller sites that are oversubscribed, but there are no transit or emergency sites in the area.

A South Gloucestershire Council spokesman said identifying future transit sites formed part of the work on the Local Plan, with public consultations due to take place “in early 2018”.